Passing a newsagents in snowy Chessington this morning, Nonsuch HP noticed the headline in the Daily Express, "NOW FOOD IS RUNNING OUT". Does this seem to anyone just a little bit irresponsible? The media has indeed got a duty to report events and the not insignificant problems the bad weather has caused, but the tone of a headline like this was surely excessive.
There is obviously plenty of grumpiness about the failure of the World Cup bid this morning, with some of the blame being put on the Panorama investigation into dodgy dealings in Fifa, which followed up a similar report in the Sunday Times a few weeks ago. These reports were specifically referred to by Sepp Blatter just before the vote, and do appear to have had some influence. Is this another example of poor judgement by the media (The Guardian's coverage of the Wikileaks data could possibly be another) or do the media have a duty to expose stories like this whenever they wish? Please add your comments below!
it seems that the country and media have gone into meltdown (excuse the pun)
ReplyDeleteThat headline is definitely excessive, and it's ridiculous to try and scare the public like that. Then again, what more could be expected of the Daily Express? Perhaps it is irresponsible, as clearly some people will take it seriously, but then in my opinion the paper has a right present an article as it wishes, and it is up to the reader to identify what to take seriously; surely it should be obvious that this is a massive exaggeration.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the Panorama investigation, the timing was certainly unfortunate, but we rely on the media to expose issues such as this. People would want to know about problems within FIFA, and to blame England's failure to win on this would be ridiculous. As we only really got 1 vote, clearly there was a much greater reason for that. That said, I think it was too far for Wikileaks to release the cable data; losing a World Cup bid is disappointing but not a danger, the Wikileaks data could have a large impact not only on current foreign relations, but for historians and politicians in the future. I do not blame news channels and newpapers for covering the story, but I think the information shouldnt have been released in the first place.
It's a classic self-fulfilling prophecy; food's only running out (a claim to be taken with a large pinch of salt considering the calibre of the newspaper involved) because said newspaper reports it as such, and it's (often gullible) readership believe that it must be true and then panic buy. And obviously if enough people panic buy, the food runs out.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to the claims that Panorama lost us the World Cup bid, it is at lease a more sensible claim than one found in the Daily Mail yesterday; 'Miliband sabotages World Cup Bid'. Seriously.